We are buying a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in St Nicholas who is on the TSB approved panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a solicitor?

Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for TSB . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in St Nicholas.

This question may be naive but I am wet behind the ears as a 1st time purchaser of a garden flat in St Nicholas. Do I collect the keys to the house on the completion date from my solicitor? If this is the case, I will find a local conveyancing solicitor in St Nicholas?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Your solicitors will arrange to send the purchase money to the vendor’s solicitors, and once they have received this, you will be invited to pick up the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.

I had an offer accepted on a house in St Nicholas on 10/12/2025, valuation was booked 3 days after, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer appointed, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Principality and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Principality conveyancing panel. Are Principality entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Principality to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Principality conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

I've read lots of mortgage guides, I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local St Nicholas solicitor - who is on the Aldermore conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?

Aldermore will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Aldermore will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own St Nicholas surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.

I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £245,000 and found one round the corner in St Nicholas I like with a park and transport links nearby, however it's only got 52 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in St Nicholas for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error acquiring a short lease?

If you require a home loan that many years may be problematic. Discount the offer by the anticipated lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of twenty four months you can ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease with a zero ground rent applied. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer concerning this matter.

We're FTB’s - had an offer accepted, yet the estate agent informed us that the seller will only move forward if we use their chosen solicitors as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. Our preferred option is to instruct a local conveyancer accustomed to conveyancing in St Nicholas

It is highly unlikely the sellers are behind this. Should the vendor desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a genuine buyer is not the way to achieve this. Bypass the agents and go straight to the owners and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you have nothing to sell (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you are going to use your own,trusted St Nicholas conveyancing firm - not the ones that will give the estate agent a kickback or achieve conveyancing figures set by HQ.

Due to exchange soon on a garden flat in St Nicholas. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in St Nicholas should include some of the following:

Your conveyancers should enable you to have an understanding of the building insurance provisions specifics of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the tennant, head lessor, freeholder The physical ownership of the property. This might be the apartment itself but may incorporate a attic or basement if relevant. Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the flat, or having a home office for business

I am the registered owner of a 1 bedroom flat in St Nicholas, conveyancing was carried out 9 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in St Nicholas with a long lease are worth £195,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2089

With only 63 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to be between £16,200 and £18,600 as well as professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.